Late Night Tea
by Stark'sGirl
Summary: Set-Post Avengers. After Thor brought Loki back to Earth to live with the Avengers, SHIELD found that interesting and agreed. In a late night, the God of Mischeif manages to change his relation with a certain billionaire. NOT Slash. Only friendship. Inspired by the One Direction song, "Little Things".


**Disclaimer: **I owe nothing. Aside from my DVD's and this computer. Nothing else. If I owed the Avengers, I'd never leave Tom Hiddleston and RDJ go. I'll tie them together.

**Author's Note: **This is an idea that came to me after I heard the the One Direction song, "Little Things". That song was my inspiration. So, some of the credit goes to them as well because of their amazing song. The rest goes to RDJ and Tom Hiddleston for their great looks.

One year had passed since the battle from Manhattan. The Earth had been put in no danger ever since. Everything had been extremely peaceful. Aside from the wars, threats and murders that happened daily around the globe. Something that not even the mightiest heroes could stop.

Of course, a lot of things had happened ever since the Avengers had assembled for the first time. Despite his previsious wishes of leaving as soon the Tesseract was found, Bruce remained in New York. He considered that it was better to be around his newly made family than be alone. Yes, the Avengers became a family shortly after the war stopped. A disturbed family but still a family.

Tony Stark was brought back from his thoughts by the sound of the elevator buzz as it reached the commun floor. The one he used to call, The Avengers floor. There was the huge room where the team met to watch movies, read or simply stay and talk. Another room that was the meeting room in which The Avengers met when they had to discuss important things or have a video conference with Fury. Yes, they had everything on that floor. Tony made sure that everyone had everything they needed at discretion.

With a small, tired sigh, Tony stepped out of the elevator and scretched his hands above his head. Every team member should be asleep by now. No one else would be awake in the middle of the night. Not even Bruce who already fell asleep in Tony's workshop while he was working to his new armor. The man needed some sleep and that was the main reason why Tony left the workshop. That and a glass of scotch.

"Still awake, Reindeer Games?" Tony called over his shoulder when he noticed a slim shadow over the dark room floor. He didn't wait for an answer as he went straight to the bar that was across the wall and opened one of the cupboards that were under it.

"I could have asked the same, Stark." The smooth, calm voice responded but the shadow remained still in front of the large windows.

Not even two months after the attack in Manhattan when Thor stormed inside the Tower with a lifeless body beside him only to be revealed that the body beside him was no one else but his brother, Loki. He begged over and over again the Avengers and SHIELD to keep his brother on Earth due to some misunderstandings on Asgard. But of course no one wanted a psychotic murderer on their side. However, Fury thought that Loki could help the Avengers if he truly changed into a better person and he agreed with it despite the Avengers unstoppable huffs.

"Well, I was just coming for a glass. I didn't expect you to still be awake. I thought that on Asgard you had to sleep around either o'clock like the babies." Tony shot back as he poured himself a glass of brown liquid from his crystalline bottle.

The God jaw tightened at the billionaire's mention of Asgard and he turned around gracefully to face the mortal that stood behind the bar. His hands were clasped together in front of his stomach around something that the billionaire couldn't see. Was it a weapon? No, Loki had been just fine the months he stayed with them. He never showed any signs that he wanted to kill anyone else aside from the mosquitos he found in the Tower. Why would he change now?

Tony felt his body tense as he saw the God lift his hands in front of his torso but of course, he didn't show anything. His face was having the same cocky expression as always and his hands were surprisingly steady. He felt his brows meet between his eyes as he saw the God's hands raise to his lips and a small steam being visible in the dim light.

Tea. How didn't he think about it before? He was drinking a cup of tea. That explained how the God's pale hands were wrapped tightly around the small and round cup that was between them and the reason why he was awake and in the general room at this hour in the night. The simple thought made the billionaire's lips curl up into a slight smirk.

"Earl Grey, isn't it?" Tony asked without even looking at the God that was in front of him. He should have thought that Loki was the one stealing Bruce's teabags and using them himself when he observed that the tea box was finishing faster than usual ever since Loki made his appearence.

"You are right," Loki nodded as he took a sip from the warm liquid from the cup he held between his hands. "I've been quite surprised when I found out that you, mortals, have the same warm drink as the Asgardians."

"Well, we do have a lot of good drinks around here as well. Have you ever tried coffee?" Loki scowled ever so slightly. "Is not one of the best drinks around here but," Tony paused to take a sip from his newly poured scotch. "it does a good job at keeping you awake."

Loki nodded his understanding as he took a cautious step toward one of the greyish couches from the room. He had heard the discussions between the other Avengers about that liquid called coffee. They even made him curious enought to taste it once but he soon found out that it was a mistake. Not only that he wasn't fond of that drink but he found its taste funny.

"So I've heard." Loki mumbled as he took a seat on one of the couches. He was dressed in his usual ridiculously long and green Asgardian clothes. At least he didn't wear his Reindeer Games crown again. Only the thought of it made Tony hide a chuckle.

A long silence passed between the last time when Loki spoke and the next time Tony opened his mouth to do something else than sip his scotch. "So, Reindeer Games," the genius began as he sank down on one of the chairs across from Loki. "let's face it, the past months weren't the worst months, were they?"

At his words, the Norse God eyebrows shot up near his hair line as his lips formed a thin line in his own way to mention the genius to continue what he had to say.

"You never, ever told someone from the team why you came to Earth in the first place," Tony paused to chose his words wisely as he noticed the God's eyes turn colder than usual. "You never told us why you tried to conquest the Earth. What made you do that. Why you wanted to rule us."

Loki sighed and leant back in his seat. Here it was. The discussion he feared most. He knew that it'll come sometime, that was the main reason why he never socialized with the Avengers. He tried to evite any contact that might give them the opportunity to ask him about that delicate subject. But here he was, standing or merely sitting, in front of Tony Stark with nothing else than a cup of tea when the subject had been opened. Perfect.

"Why don't I start with the beginning?" Loki said and placed his cup of tea on the small coffee table that was in front of him. Without waiting for the billionaire's answer, the God cleared his throat softly and folded his hands together.

"It all began because of Thor. Or Odin. But mostly Thor and his greatness. Thor and with his hammer and perfection." Loki paused and swallowed before he continued. "I don't know if Thor told this to you or not, or if even fa- Odin told him this but I'm not Asgardian." That gained him a frown from the billionaire but he held up his hand to make him swallow any remark or question he had to make.

"I was born son of Laufey. The king of the Jontuns that are also known as Frost Gigants." Loki stated as calmly he could even if he could feel the anger boil inside his veins.

"Frost Gigants you said?" At Loki's nod, Tony's brows furrowed in a small frown. "Aren't they those big and blue things with red eyes Thor told us about?"

Loki glared at the man in front of him for a moment, even if he knew that he was right. He simply nodded. "As I was saying before you intrerupted me. I was born a Jontun in the period when Odin invaded Jontunheim. When he won the battle and entered the temple to take the racle in which the Jontun's held their source of power, he found a baby. That baby was me. And as you might already know, he took and grew me in Asgard as his own son with the hope that, one day, he could make a union between Jontunheim and Asgard by using me."

Tony's face twisted in disgust at the mere thought and he took another sip from his scotch as he mentioned for the Norse God to continue. "I grew up under the idea that I was Thor's younger brother. I grew up knowing that Thor would be the king of Asgard when the time would come. Not that I cared about the throne. I never wanted the throne, I only wanted to be his equal."

The sympathetic look on the billionaire's face was too much for Loki to endure. He decided to stand up from the couch and pace toward the window to face the city and not the billionaire's face. He hated to be pitied and this was one of the moments when he was being pitied. And by nobody else but Tony Stark.

"Years passed and I grew in what you see me. However, the whole Asgardian prince and brother of the mighty Thor dream shattered when Thor, me and his fellow friends went to attack Jontunheim after a few 'problems' that happened in the day when Thor was suppossed to be king." A small smirk began to form on the God's pale lips as he remembered that day. "It was then when I found out that I was a Jontun. Usually a Jontun touch on an Asgardian burns the touched area. In my case, it didn't. It just turned my skin blue."

Sighing, Loki closed his eyes for a second and felt grateful that he had his back to the quiet billionaire. "There were a few other events that happened, however, I reached the moment when I wanted to destroy Jontunheim. I hated Odin for lying to me and planned on destroying Jontunheim because I knew he wouldn't want that to happen. But he deserved it. I grew up with the idea that Jontuns were monsters that destroyed everything, only to find out that I was one!" The God's voice rose three octaves more than usual at the last sentence before he calmed himself.

"I fought with Thor and durring our fight, he destroyed the Bifrost. I caught myself by Thor and Odin caught his son. That was an overhelming moment and I let go of Thor. I fell into abyss." As soon he finished the sentence, he heard Tony stand up from his chair and pace toward him.

"How did you survive?" He heard the simple question come from the genius and a soft scowl escaped his lips.

"Thanos found me. He learnt me thing I never heard about before. He let me feel the bitter taste of power and it happened that I enjoyed it. He promised to make me king over Earth if I brought him the Tesseract." He sighed and turned around to face Tony once again, the lights from the city falling over his sad and pale face. "He brainwashed me. He was the one controlling my body, Stark. I wouldn't have done that otherwise. I'm not a monster. I woke up late enough to see what I did. I woke up when the beast was smashing me into your floor."

Tony felt his chest tighten with hater for Odin and Thanos as soon Loki finished his story. The story of a destroyed man. He was just as destroyed as he was. He had the same shattered dreams he had as a child. With a sigh, Tony went back to his chair and sat down, grabbing his glass from the coffee table.

"I assume Odin is a lot as my own father." Tony chuckled humorlessly at his own words. It was all he could get out at the moment.

It didn't took long until Loki went back to his seat as well. He took his cup of tea again between his hands and sipped it as he listened to Tony telling him about his own childhood. How his father used to abuse him mentally and physically by beating him. How he turned up being the Merchant of Death and how he was kidnapped in Afghanistan. He told Loki stories that nobody else knew. He felt the ice between them melt with each laugh or smile they shared.

The first rays of sun began to shine through the room's large windows when Loki noticed that Tony had fallen asleep at some point durring his story. He was telling him a story about him and Thor when they were children. A happy and funny story this time and he was surprised to see that Tony was being that quiet and not fiddling around with something or laughing. It was then he saw that the genius was fast asleep in his chair, his head hanging to side uncomfortably.

Silently and cautiously to don't wake up the sleeping genius, Loki placed his third empty cup of tea on the glass table and stood up from the couch. He watched the mortal's sleep for a few moments before a small smile formed on his pale lips and he rose a hand to touch the other's forehead. His eyes then fell to the Arc Reactor that was on the other's chest and the soft blue light it created through the material of his black AC/DC shirt.

"You might be a man of metal Tony Stark, but," The God paused for a moment, "you have a heart and mind of gold." He finished his whisper then mumbled a magic in Old Norse to teleport Tony back to his room.

Jarvis voice woke Tony from his deep sleep. As soon he realized where he was, he felt confussed. The last thing he remembered was hearing Loki's voice mumbling something about Thor and his arrogant character and then his world went to black. Maybe he fell asleep but how had he got in his room? Then it hit him. The man knew magic, of course he could easily teleport him back to his room without moving a finger. Shaking his head, he decided that he should wake up completely and make his presence known in the common kitchen.

It took him less than a half hour to shower, brush his teeths and do his hair before he went downstairs in the common kitchen. The sight in front of his eyes, shocked Tony. The redheaded assasin was in front of the stove, apparently frying some eggs. Bruce was sitting at the kitchen table with a newspaper in his hands and his reading glasses on. Well, that didn't surprise him. Steve was holding his cup of coffee in a hand as he fiddled with his notebook. He apparently was trying to draw something or someone. Clint was laughing as he watched Thor fiddle with the newly brought coffee machine. Well, now that annoyed Tony. And surprisingly, Loki was there also. A cup of tea in his hand and a full of mischeif smirk on his pale lips.

"Thor, you won't get the coffee out like that." Tony whined and went straight to the blonde Norse God. He hit a few buttons with his forefinger, making it fast enough to be sure that Thor didn't had time to catch sight of what he did and then the coffee began to pour itself in the cup Thor was holding.

"Thank you, Man of Metal. I appreciate that." Thor beamed as he sipped his steaming brown liquid and made his way to the table.

Tony poured some coffee for himself in one of the empty and white Stark Industries cups he found. He turned his head enough to look over at Bruce as the scientist muttered something about a new project. As he picked up his cup of coffee and brought it to his lips to take a sip of it, he caught sight of Loki moving his hand a few times. He frowned a little but the frown soon dissapeared and turned into a shocked expression as two blue skinned snakes rose from his coffee cup.

"What the hell?!" Tony screamed as he cup fell to the ground and shattered into milion small pieces.

Seeing the snakes on the ground, Thor glared at his brother then back to the snakes and again. "Brother!" He said firmly and that gained him a full of mischeif smirk from his brother. After all, living with The Avengers wasn't that bad.

It was later that day when Bruce went to Tony who was laid on the couch from the common living room with a tablet in his hands. Apparently he was working on yet another project. That didn't surprised Bruce at all but another thing did surprised him and it was Loki's attitude earlier.

"Tony, can I have a word with you?" At Tony's careless nod, Bruce sighed and sat down on one of the chairs beside the couch. "I've heard you and Loki laugh and speak last night. Is not that I want to intrude or anything but, what did you do to him? His mood is changed totally."

Laying his tablet on top of his Arc Reactor, Tony gave the scientist a small smile and a shrug. "He had a cup of tea. I had a glass of scotch. We talked endlessly and it seems that it helped. You know, little things."

I hope you liked it. Please don't forget to review.


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